April 09 +Graham GET A LIFE - THE ATHEISTS OR CHRISTIAN WAY?
A sixth former at one of our schools recently said to me that she thought that science might eventually explain the origins of everything. In other words, the notion of God would be totally unnecessary; all would be explained by scientific materialism.
I replied to her that if she believed that, she needed just as much faith as I did to believe in God. She smiled.
The notion that science has disproved (or will one day disprove) the existence of God is one of the great lies of our generation. Even if it is remotely possible that the perfect conditions on earth for human existence could have happened by sheer statistical luck, in a system with many universes and with billions of billions of planets, there is no sign of any scientific explanation as to why the raw materials of the universe existed at all.
It is much more plausible to agree with several of the world's great religions and see the universe as a divine creation. Or at a more intuitive level: one look at the beauty all around us points us to a creator. And how is it that we have the capacity at all to understand the cosmos? It makes more sense to believe that we can think because we are created in the image of the God who knows and understands everything.
The London buses carry the advert, sponsored by Richard Dawkins, among others, ‘There probably is no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.' What a caricature of Christians! A great many Christians say that their faith brings the deepest joy and peace. It brings complete forgiveness for all wrongs we have done. It brings meaning - working with God for a better world. Churchgoers live longer: men seven years on average, women four. So what is making the atheists so worried?
If God truly brings joy and peace, how can we know him? Only if he reveals himself to us. Yes, he has done that in his magnificent creation. But he has done it more personally and powerfully in Jesus Christ. The Easter Day miracle, the resurrection of Jesus, is the strongest argument of all for the reality of God. All the accounts say that the tomb was empty and the body wasn't there. Everyone knew in those days that resurrection didn't happen; that is why the eye-witnesses emphasised what they had seen. However implausible, it really happened! Everything is now possible with a God who raises the dead.
If anyone could show me conclusively that the body did not leave the tomb, my faith would collapse and I would no longer be a Christian believer. The resurrection is the foundation. It gives firm grounds in history to support faith. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating. If it didn't work, I would have given it up long ago. Rather, the opposite is the case; 53 years of the experience of living in touch with Jesus and in prayer to the true Father in heaven has brought me untold joy.
All this adds up to saying that Jesus is the truth. People simply don't know what they are missing. The most effective route to convincing those around us of the truth of Jesus is for Christians to speak of him with excitement. ‘Not very British', you say! Ah! But until we Christians show the joy of living with Jesus, the atheists will continue to tell us to get a life. We need to show that we already have one!
+Graham, Bishop of Carlisle
